Dear Beloved Blog Readers,
I am so happy to be writing you and I have so much to tell you.
I was one of the people who testified at the Vermont State Budget Hearings on February 15th and then again as part of the Vermont Care Partners on the 25th for their press conference at the Vermont Statehouse in the hectic Cedar Creek Room.
What we are interested in, is fixing an agreement that has been broken. The state is not funding things that it’s obligated to run. I know there was an agreement made when the state closed down the Brandon Training School and committed itself to the task of creating centers that support people with disabilities to access their communities.
I have grown up in this era as someone who relies on the services these centers provide. I am therefore an imbedded reporter.
Now that I attend the State Standing Program Committee on Developmental Services I see how hard people work to make things happen with not very much money. And those people have to make tough decisions that result in the people who work with me, a highly intelligent but difficult to access man, getting paid low wages.
I was astounded at the Vermont State Budget Hearings to hear how many other state programs had to get down on their knees and beg for money to adequately fund their work to make life possible and fruitful.
I have two really easy requests.
Please read my speech.
Please go see Michael Moore’s movie “Where to Invade Next?” I’m so glad I saw it. In it you see life in other countries where hot topic items like “Prison”, “Sex Education”, “Paid Vacation” and “Hitler” get handled with less focus on the money spent than the outcomes of good learning experiences and happy, well-adjusted people. But, you know what? In the end, that costs less too.
I hope some of you are happily returned from vacation.
I trust others of you are planning yours.
Hope your dreams are moving you upward.
Fondly,
Mark
The Utter Advocate for a Good Life for All